


End of a Martial Arc

by zephyrus_0207



Category: RWBY
Genre: Both are trying but enough is enough, M/M, Martial Arcs, My emotional support angst, Prompt was basically: What if Jaune and Ren were dating since V4, break-up fic, midterm stress got me wanting to destroy the lives of fictional characters that i treasure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27124432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zephyrus_0207/pseuds/zephyrus_0207
Summary: Jaune would like to think of himself as a patient person, you’d have to be if you were dating Lie Ren.  However, patience has its limits, and after a certain Grimm invasion in Atlus, Jaune starts to think he’s reaching the end of his.
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Lie Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	End of a Martial Arc

Jaune continuously tapped the guards on his forearms, sitting on his bed within the Atlus Academy dorms. A scowl was plastered over his face as he reflected on the last conversation he had with Ruby a few days before. It had been a week since the last Grimm invasion; he, Oscar, and Weiss had to fight their way out of hordes of Grimm and tensions were high between Mantle and Atlas relations. But he'd be lying if he said that the political relations between the two were his primary concern. Nope, that was reserved for a far more personal, selfish issue. 

Jaune gripped his arms as he heard the door open, seeing that Ren had gotten his text to meet him alone. His boyfriend looked more guilty than concerned, but that was to be expected as he had been avoiding each other since the invasion; both for different reasons. 

"Jaune-" Ren began to say, wincing as he heard Jaune sigh heavily at his arrival. He locked the door behind him, standing near his boyfriend who wouldn't even look him in the eye. "Would you let me please explain?" He tried to say, but couldn't think of anything that could remove the growing tension between them. 

"Do you want to break up with me?" Jaune asked bluntly, feeling a little guilt as even he thought it was too much to ask straight off the bat, but right now he couldn't back down and be a pushover; he needed an answer. 

Immediately Ren's eyes widened as it felt like the ground was giving out from under him. "No of course not!" He insisted, raising his voice due to his growing desperation. "If this is about Nora-" 

"It's not just about Nora!" Jaune exclaimed, growing more angry and upset with each passing word. "Ren, I asked you months ago to tell her. I know that you're not comfortable with things like this, but I'm starting to think you're ashamed of me or something." He said gripping the bedsheets by his side. 

"That's not true!" Ren argued back, recalling the moments they spend together. The moments they held hands when no one was looking, the long talks they had when night fell, the feeling of security knowing they always had each other backs in a fight and in daily life... 

"Then why can't you tell your oldest friend; Please stop making advances on me, I have a boyfriend whom I've been dating for over a year?!" Jaune asked, now glaring at his boyfriend."Ren, Nora has been in love with you for forever, even when we were in Beacon together she was always there right by your side and you're basically treating her like she's some kind of nuisance. I know you wouldn't try to lead her on but..." Jaune's voice calmed as he tried to reach out, looking for some kind of sign as he gave Ren the chance to explain himself. 

"It's...complicated," Ren said averting his gaze while Jaune shook his head, hating that he expected this. "I don't want to hurt Nora. She's my family. The right time hasn't come up yet." Ren said, but could see that it didn't come off so eloquently as Jaune stared at him with hurt eyes. 

"Ren. She kissed you." Jaune stated as he couldn't hold back the hurt in his voice. 

Ren didn't say a word as he stood there stunned, which made Jaune even more upset than before. 

"Tell me why when Nora kissed you I had to hear it from Ruby!" Jaune demanded, no longer asking as the betrayal he felt bubbled up. Ever since they started dating he always had reservations. Not about how Ren felt towards him, but how his boyfriend would feel about being open about their relationship, especially towards the one person he cared about more than anyone; he was certain of that now. 

"I didn't want her to," Ren said. "It was just a messed up night. We were both arguing all night, one thing led to another..." He said, but even he could hear how shallow he sounded. 

Jaune shut his eyes tightly as he rested his head in his hands, feeling his head start to ache from all of this tension. Every conversation they had these days seemed to always lead to constantly arguing about this. It was emotionally taxing on the both of them. Sooner or later Jaune knew this kind of conflict between would come to bite them if they kept leaving it up in the air; it had to be nipped in the bud now. 

"We have to start thinking of everyone else." Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to ignore the stabbing sensation in his chest, thinking about how little they would have to lose since they never told anyone. That was their unspoken agreement, never tell anyone about them so as to not be awkward or distracting. They had done well, too well perhaps. Maybe if he was more forthcoming about his affections towards his boyfriend in the open, maybe they wouldn't have...

"This isn't about them, it's about us." Ren said gripping his fists as he began to feel helpless as he felt the person he loved start to slip away. No, that was wrong, Jaune was always slipping away, ever since he couldn't find the courage to tell Nora the truth. But even so for some reason, he could never find the courage to pull him back. 

"Of course they're apart of this. They're our friends, our teammates, I'm just so sick of tiptoeing around them. You think I like going out of my to avoid being near you every second I can because we can't draw suspicion? You think I like having to feel guilty about hating the way Nora's been clinging to you?!" Jaune asked as he began to grow weary. 

"I know, I was going to but with Atlas and training-" Ren tried to explain but Jaune never wavered as he grew more frustrated. 

"That's bs and you know it!" Jaune exclaimed, standing up. "We've been here for weeks already and the only thing you've done is push both of your teammates away!" 

Ren was stunned as Jaune's words pierced him. But Ren stayed silent with an expression riddled with shame and guilt, thinking about how they had joked before of how he talked more; but it didn't mean he would always know what the right thing to say was. 

Jaune turned his head away as he could feel that no matter what he said, this was something that Ren had to sort out for himself. "If you're so worried about everything then I'll help you out by being one less thing weighing down on your mind." He said walking towards the door. 

"Wait!" Ren called out, grabbing Jaune's hand. He wanted to say something, something that would make everything better, something that could reassure them both so they could be together. But he was never good at talking. 

"Ren. I love you." Jaune said without missing a beat, turning back to him. "I didn't think I was asking for much at the time, but it may not have been the case for you. I know how much you care about Nora, and I never wanted to get in between you and Nora's friendship, but I can't be with you if I keep feeling guilty like I'm pushing you into doing things you don't want to. We'll just go back to how it was before." Jaune said his voice laden with a cold aura masking his usually warm and kind nature. "I'll still be your friend, your leader, but that's it. We're done." He said gently pushing away Ren's hand. He kissed his now ex's forehead and then left, leaving the room much colder than when he was present. 

Ren rested his head on the door as it closed, feeling hollow inside as he clutched his hands together tears falling to the ground. He wondered how Jaune could say something so cruel like that so easily. 

He loved Jaune, more than even his ex had realized. He loved his kindness, his patience, his goofiness, but he no longer had the right to say any of these things. No matter how strongly he felt about him, he couldn't bring himself to go after him, not after he had hurt him so much. 

* * *

On the other side with his back resting against the door, Jaune wiped away the tears, feeling especially hurt as he began to think selfish things, wondering why Ren wasn't coming after him. But then quickly pushed those thoughts aside as he forced himself to remember that he was the one who asked for this. Lifting up his head, he took a deep breath and with each step he took he tried not to look back. 

**Author's Note:**

> \- When Martial Arcs is your emotional support fic, and you start to wonder...What if Jaune and Ren were secretly dating behind the scenes.  
> -Maybe this will get a continuation in V8 we'll see.


End file.
